Twisted thug shook his 13-day-old son to death by causing ‘catastrophic and irreversible’ brain damage

Baby Joshua Millinson suffered injuries described by medical experts as some of the worst they've seen

By JENNIFER HALE

2nd November 2016, 5:22 pm

Updated: 2nd November 2016, 6:06 pm

A DAD has been found guilty of murdering his 13-day-old son after he shook him to death in a shocking attack.

Daniel Sanzone, 23, caused "catastrophic and irreversible" brain damage to baby Joshua Millinson at the family home in Wolverhampton.

PA:Press Association

Daniel Sanzone was found guilty of killing his baby son

PA:Press Association

Baby Joshua was just 13 days old when he died at the hands of his father

He faces a life sentence tomorrow as Joshua's mum Zoe Howell walked free from the dock today.

Howell, 19,was cleared of turning "a blind eye" to the risk of leaving Joshua with Sanzone.

The young mum was shocked at the verdict, telling police after the attack: "I can't believe the dad has done it."

Little Joshua was rushed to New Cross Hospital on October 24, with Sanzone and Howell telling police at the time he suddenly stopped feeding and went bright red.

Mum Zoe said at the time of the attack she heard a loud bang from the living room - but Sanzone lied and told her he had "dropped the remote". He told police in a later interview the noise was the sound of the sofa hitting the wall as he sat back.

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However, it is believed the sound could have been Joshua being thrown down on the sofa by Sanzone as he vigorously shook him.

Joshua's grandmother, Sharon Howell, attempted to perform CPR and Joshua was resuscitated in hospital. He was put on life support for nearly a month before the High Court ruled his care should be withdrawn.

Medics say the attack caused Joshua to sustain "catastrophic and irreversible damage to the brain and brain stem", similar to the kind of injuries seen in a major road accident.

A postmortem also revealed a catalogue of injuries, finding older fractures to the baby's lower legs and rib cage, which doctors said were consistent with "twisting", "squeezing" and "being gripped forcibly".

Sanzone declined to give evidence to the jury during the three-week trial at Birmingham Crown Court, throughout which mum Zoe sat in the dock in tears clutching a teddy.

PA:Press Association

Joshua's mum Zoe was in shock at the verdict

PA:Press Association

Daniel Sanzone reportedly told his partner Zoe the thud she heard was him dropping the remote - when instead he was killing her son

She told the court her partner could "sometimes be a bit rough", but that she had never seen him hurt the boy.